Chapter XXIII – Attack: Phase One
The modifications to the bike were complete. X, Bass, and Zero were on the roof again, that location chosen because it offered the most direct route to the fortress. Bass had already merged with Treble, and X was double-checking his systems. Zero was mounting his bike. His legs fit neatly into indentations at the bases of the wings.
"You guys ready to go?" asked Zero.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Bass stated, beginning to hover.
"Did anybody tell you you say that way to often?" asked X.
"Not yet. Let's go!" The black Reploid air-dashed off, and X followed suit. Zero revved up his hover-bike and shot off the roof. He fell about four feet before the hover coils kicked in, pushing him upwards and forwards. It wasn't long before he caught up to the others, who had already reached a fair distance.
"I've gotta' give Gate some credit for this thing," Zero yelled at the others. "It works like a charm!"
"Don't jinx it!" Bass replied at an equal volume.
The trio continued on there course, Sigma's base getting larger by the moment. They kept joking until an energy pellet whizzed by X's leg.
"We've got company," warned the Hunter, switching to his Buster. Bass and Zero did the same. A squadron of jetpack-equipped Metools rained plasma pellets down on them. Bass aimed up and opened fire, blasting three at a time with his enhanced F-Buster. X charged up and fired into the unprotected bellies of the Mets. Zero watched them dispose of the helmeted robots. He turned forward again . . . right into the path of a Reploid in Hawk armor.
Zero tried to veer away, but it was too late. He was going to ram the ride armor when figure in gold armor shot down from above; landing on the armor and forcing it down, letting Zero pass safely overhead. The new Reploid launched a plasma sphere into the ride armor's cockpit, then jumped away. He came up alongside of the red Hunter.
The figure in gold had a canine-like air about him. His helmet was similar to Zero's, but the peaks were facing a different direction. Laser claws were on his wrists, and his Buster had peaks on it similar to his helmet. His wings were similar to Bass', and the Reploid's face was familiar to Zero. X came down to see what was going on, and something clicked together for him.
"Gate! What are you doing here?" exclaimed the blue cyber-human.
"I thought that you might need some help," chuckled Gate. "My experiments with integrating the boost ability into modern Reploids appeared successful, so I decided to test it by help you."
"Boost ability?" Bass muttered. "No, he didn't . . . he couldn't . . ." But the signs were too obvious. Gate had gone ahead and built his Treble clone, and used it to duplicate the forgotten technology.
Gate must have caught Bass' words, because he calmly stated, "I could have finished faster, but Bass destroyed all of my work on it. I had to think up a new way to make this work, without Light's research. So while the effect of this new boost is the same, the process involved is different."
"As enjoyable as this little talk is," Zero interrupted, "we've got to do something about that." He motioned towards the fortress, which was now huge in front of them. They could see defense forces being launched. "I think that the best thing to do is to split up. Bass, try to find a way in from the roof of one of the towers. See if there's an air vent. X, you try and sneak in throw the bottom. There's bound to be an entry hatch down there. I'll storm the front, and keep the main defense force busy. Gate, you go ahead and help whoever needs it."
As he raced through the opposing forces, Bass thought back to what had happened the last time. Cain hadn't thought to remove the memory chips of Bass' death, so the black robot knew the pain that he had experienced, and knew that if he failed again, he wouldn't be brought back. Coming up to the side of one of the towers, Bass turned around so that he was facing away from the complex and bolted upwards. As he went higher, he shot down on his pursuers, as well as Zero's aggressors. After destroying a good many of them, he looked up again. The dark-armored Reploid nearly missed an air vent, and had to double back to reach it. It was too small to fit through, even without the Boost armor. So he continued upwards, without conflict. At the top, all of the towers converged and turned down into a single, large pillar of steel. Strangely enough, or perhaps not so strange, there was a large opening in on the top that he could go down through. Bass landed on the edge and peered down. It was too dark to see the bottom, so he activated his thrusters to slow his descent as he jumped. The visor once again going over his eyes, Bass saw strong infrared emanations from something at the bottom of the pit. As he descended, the blurry heat source came into focus as a large cannon.
"Shit . . ." said Bass, feelings of defeat rushing through him as he realized what Sigma's plan was.
The modifications to the bike were complete. X, Bass, and Zero were on the roof again, that location chosen because it offered the most direct route to the fortress. Bass had already merged with Treble, and X was double-checking his systems. Zero was mounting his bike. His legs fit neatly into indentations at the bases of the wings.
"You guys ready to go?" asked Zero.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Bass stated, beginning to hover.
"Did anybody tell you you say that way to often?" asked X.
"Not yet. Let's go!" The black Reploid air-dashed off, and X followed suit. Zero revved up his hover-bike and shot off the roof. He fell about four feet before the hover coils kicked in, pushing him upwards and forwards. It wasn't long before he caught up to the others, who had already reached a fair distance.
"I've gotta' give Gate some credit for this thing," Zero yelled at the others. "It works like a charm!"
"Don't jinx it!" Bass replied at an equal volume.
The trio continued on there course, Sigma's base getting larger by the moment. They kept joking until an energy pellet whizzed by X's leg.
"We've got company," warned the Hunter, switching to his Buster. Bass and Zero did the same. A squadron of jetpack-equipped Metools rained plasma pellets down on them. Bass aimed up and opened fire, blasting three at a time with his enhanced F-Buster. X charged up and fired into the unprotected bellies of the Mets. Zero watched them dispose of the helmeted robots. He turned forward again . . . right into the path of a Reploid in Hawk armor.
Zero tried to veer away, but it was too late. He was going to ram the ride armor when figure in gold armor shot down from above; landing on the armor and forcing it down, letting Zero pass safely overhead. The new Reploid launched a plasma sphere into the ride armor's cockpit, then jumped away. He came up alongside of the red Hunter.
The figure in gold had a canine-like air about him. His helmet was similar to Zero's, but the peaks were facing a different direction. Laser claws were on his wrists, and his Buster had peaks on it similar to his helmet. His wings were similar to Bass', and the Reploid's face was familiar to Zero. X came down to see what was going on, and something clicked together for him.
"Gate! What are you doing here?" exclaimed the blue cyber-human.
"I thought that you might need some help," chuckled Gate. "My experiments with integrating the boost ability into modern Reploids appeared successful, so I decided to test it by help you."
"Boost ability?" Bass muttered. "No, he didn't . . . he couldn't . . ." But the signs were too obvious. Gate had gone ahead and built his Treble clone, and used it to duplicate the forgotten technology.
Gate must have caught Bass' words, because he calmly stated, "I could have finished faster, but Bass destroyed all of my work on it. I had to think up a new way to make this work, without Light's research. So while the effect of this new boost is the same, the process involved is different."
"As enjoyable as this little talk is," Zero interrupted, "we've got to do something about that." He motioned towards the fortress, which was now huge in front of them. They could see defense forces being launched. "I think that the best thing to do is to split up. Bass, try to find a way in from the roof of one of the towers. See if there's an air vent. X, you try and sneak in throw the bottom. There's bound to be an entry hatch down there. I'll storm the front, and keep the main defense force busy. Gate, you go ahead and help whoever needs it."
As he raced through the opposing forces, Bass thought back to what had happened the last time. Cain hadn't thought to remove the memory chips of Bass' death, so the black robot knew the pain that he had experienced, and knew that if he failed again, he wouldn't be brought back. Coming up to the side of one of the towers, Bass turned around so that he was facing away from the complex and bolted upwards. As he went higher, he shot down on his pursuers, as well as Zero's aggressors. After destroying a good many of them, he looked up again. The dark-armored Reploid nearly missed an air vent, and had to double back to reach it. It was too small to fit through, even without the Boost armor. So he continued upwards, without conflict. At the top, all of the towers converged and turned down into a single, large pillar of steel. Strangely enough, or perhaps not so strange, there was a large opening in on the top that he could go down through. Bass landed on the edge and peered down. It was too dark to see the bottom, so he activated his thrusters to slow his descent as he jumped. The visor once again going over his eyes, Bass saw strong infrared emanations from something at the bottom of the pit. As he descended, the blurry heat source came into focus as a large cannon.
"Shit . . ." said Bass, feelings of defeat rushing through him as he realized what Sigma's plan was.